Cap for grease cups



July 10, 1923.

w. H. DURANT CAP FOR GREASE CUPS Filed Oct. 5. 1921 Fig.1.

lnvenTor. v fill-Pu? 3 William HLDuranT l6 \0 I6 8 b fMW&W

Patented July 10, 1923. I

3 WILLIAM 1r. nuaennor sonnav ttn,Messecnfisnrrs.

oer ro a GREASE. ours.

= Application filed October s, 1921. Seria1 No. 504,338. I

To all whom iii "may oonce'mr Be it known-that L'VVILLIAM- H. Dormer,

acitizen of theUriited States, and resident of 'Somerville, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Caps for Grease Cups, of which the.

followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawing, isa specificationy like characters" on'the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relatesfto grease cupsand particularly to the c'aptherefor and has for its object to provide a novel grease cup. andcap which. is constructed sothat the cap will be locke'cl"inplace and will be prevented from becoming lost.- A further object of the invention is to provide. a grease cup hav-' ing "novel means for automaticallyfeeding the grease to the bearing.

Inorder'to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings a 'selectedembodiment thereof. 'whichwill' now be describedyafter which the novel features will be pointed out inthe appended claims a Fig. lis a sectional view through a grease cup embodying my'invention. I

' "Figqe is asection on the line 2-22, Fig. 3 is a'section on the line 33,' Flg. '1. v

" ,Wliile the invention-iscapable of use-gen In the'draw ngs I have shown all a part o'ri-member fin'which-'is' jou'rnaled 'agshaiE-t. a portionjofwhich isv shown at-2. ."llhisjmemher 1 is-providedfwith abushing '30 in which the "shaft rotates. This part .1 isprovided with a grease-receiving 'cavityB whichis i11 tendedftohe filled with lubrication for lubri catinefthepart 2, said cavity being closed by "a suitable cap &; :Thebushingr 30 is held in .J ol'aceby Lapin-3,1 which screw threads into the part1 and enters an: aperture in the bushing ands'aid-Zpin is formed with'a duct 32- throiigh which. the lubrication, is convey ed from the cavityBto the shaftQ;

The cap 4i is screw-threaded tothe part 1 and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention said cap is screwed intoa bushing 5 which in turn is screwed into the curb or wall 13 surroundingthe cavity 3.

One feature of myinvention relates to a construction which will prevent the cap 4:

-;the parts. I

screw-threaded part. ,I

fromibecoming entirely unscrewed from the part 5, thus retalnlng the cap inplace. T his is accomplished by extending j the/screwthreaded part Got the cap to form anapron or extension '7 which extends into the cavity 3Q This; extension 7 is provided, on its ex- 5 terio r'with a bead 8 and the part into which the capsc'rews is'p'r'ovided with an interior bead or rib '9 which is situated beyond'the screw threads. "The two beads 8' and 9am sosituated relative to'each other and. the

screw threads, that whilethe cap is being;

screwed into the bushing 5fand. before the "cap hasbeen. screwed entirely into the position shown in Fig. 1 the bead 8 will"pass the be-ad 9. -The exterior diameterof the, bead. 8 is normally larger than the interior diameter of the bead 9 and in order to per- "mitthe beads to pass each other one of themv .18 made expansible and eontractible radially. In the construction SllOWIl'iIl Fig. 1 the bead 8 is. thus made and this is provided forb'y making the apron 7, capable of expanding 'and contractingradially. Because of the ,expa nsible,andcontractible character of the L apron it is possible to screw the cap into place and when this is done; the bead is 'forcedoverthe bead 9 andintjo the position shown in Fig. 1. As soonas the bead8 "passesthe bead 9'the resilient qualities, .1. the apron restores it to the shape shown in Fig; .1 inwhich thebead .8 .has a larger di-.

ameter thanthat of the bead 9,

'The force required to carry. the'bea'd S past thebea-d' 9 issuchas can be easily se-.. cured by turningthe cap tIwith=awrench but it is sufficient to ,preyent the clao'from yutnscrewing the motion or vibration of The apIOn may .95. be given its expansible character in various ways. One simple way i is to provide said: apron with slits 10 which extend from chef-end; thereof to about; the

"The presence of the apronfhas'a further v advantage that it assists. in .qu'i'cli'ng: the can while it is being" screwed intothe part 5. v

I Ifthe cap is provided with a relatively short 'screwrthrea-ded portion there is danger that the workman will cross the threads while he is screwing the cap in place but with the extension 7 this cannot happen because said extension holds the cap in proper alignment while the-screw threads are started.

I have also illustrated herein means for applying pressure to the grease. in the chamher 3 thereby to force it toward the shaft. This means comprises a plunger 11 situated within the extension 7 of the cap and backed by a spring 12 which tends to force it outwardly. The plunger 11 is in the form of a disk encircled by an expansible ring 12 which functions similar to a piston ring. The disk 11 is sufiiciently smaller than the interior diameter of the extension 7 to permit said extension to contract as much as is necessary to allow the bead 8 to pass the head 9. The split ring 12 can also expand and contract and it operates to make a tight fit with the walls of the extension 7 when the latter is expanded and also to permit the extension to contract as much as necessary. Under some circumstances the grease which is used in grease cups of this nature is hard grease and where hard grease is used the spring-pressed plunger 11 applies sufficient pressure to the grease to lreep it in firm contact with the rotating part 2.

The bead 9 will preferably be made on the part into which the cap 4 is screw-threaded, whether said part is the bearing 1 ora separate collar screwed into the bearing as shown in the drawings. The construction herein illustrated is one which may be employed when it is desired to change over a grease cup of the old type into one embodying my invention. In this case the collar 5 may be made with the head 9 and said collar screwed into the boss 13, said collar engaging the screw threads 14 of the boss. In this construction the cap iis then screwed into the collar 5 as usual, the latter being provided with the head 9.

The extension 7 of the cap is provided at its inner end with an in-turned lip 16 which constitutes a stop to limit the spring-pressed movement of the follower or disk and prevents said disk from being ejected from the cap when the latter is removed from the part 1.

While the term grease is' used in the claims this term, in the broader aspects of the invention, is not to be taken as restrictive of the character or degree of fluidity of the lubricant which may be employed. If, for

example, the lubricant be in the form of oil the pressure applying means within the cap become unnecessary and may be removed, the cavity 3 be filled with curled hair or waste to keep out dust and dirt, and oil supplied through the hole 33 in the cap.

I claim: p I

1. In a grease cup, the combination with a member having a grease-receiving chamber and a screw-threaded opening leading thereto and also an interior head or rib beyond the screw thread, of a cap screw-threaded into of its screw-threaded movement.

2. In a grease cup, the combination with a member having a grease-receiving chamber and a screw-threaded opening leading thereto and also having an interior bead or rib beyond the screw thread, ofa cap screwthreaded into said opening, said cap having at its inner end an extension which is expansible and contractible radially and which has" a head on the exterior thereof that'normally has a larger exterior diameter than the interior diameter of-the first-named bead, said beads being so positioned relative to each other and to the screw thread that they pass each other while the screw threads of the cap are in engagement with those of said member but just before the cap reaches the extreme limit of its-inward movement. 3. In a grease cup, the combination with a member having a grease-receiving chamber, and a screw-threaded opening leading thereto and also having an interior bead beyond the screw thread, of a cap screw-threaded into said opening and having at its inner end an extension which is expansible and contractible' radially and is provided with an exterior head which issituated so that it passes the interior head when the cap is screwed into'place or removed, and a spring pressed follower within said cap, the latter having at its inner end means to limit the spring pressed movement of the follower; 4. In agrease cup, the combination with a member having a grease-receiving chamber, and ascrew-threaded openingleading thereto and also having an interior beadwbeyond the screw thread, of a ca screw- WILLIAM DlURANT. 

